Statement: Suspension of Aid to the Palestinian Authority

The Zionist Federation welcomes the news that DFID has announced it will suspend funding to the Palestinian Authority over concerns surrounding the payment of salaries to convicted Palestinian terrorists.

The issue of these payments has been a long-standing grievance for the ZF, prompting considerable activity over the last few years. It was raised at two separate Lobby Days for Israel, including this year when Itamar Marcus, director of Palestine Media Watch, was brought over specifically to brief activists and members of parliament on the subject.

It was also raised in a letter-writing campaign by the Israel-Britain Alliance, a project of the ZF, which saw over 1000 emails sent to MPs by grassroots activists in June.

ZF Chairman Paul Charney commented:

“For years, the ZF and our supporters have been raising this scandal with our elected representatives. Faced with endless obfustications, denials, and plain falsehoods, we never relented in our determination. Martin Luther King said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice, and we’ve seen that today. The thousands of grassroots activists, re-invigorated through the Israel-Britain Alliance, made all the difference. This is a huge victory not only for the pro-Israel community, but also for everyone who wants to see peace in the region.”